February 13, 2019
Page 13
O PINION
MCS Still in
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Martin
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Carpet & Upholstery
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$50.00
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CARPET CLEANING
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Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
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1 Cleaning Area (only)
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New school discipline guidelines backtrack
Undercutting
discrimination
protections
m arian W right e Delman
The
U.S.
Departments
of Education
and Justice in
2014
joint-
ly
released
a
‘guidance
package’ on
school discipline to help schools
and districts meet their responsi-
bilities under federal civil rights
law to use nondiscriminatory dis-
cipline practices. Years of data
have shown children of color
and children with disabilities are
disproportionately punished by
school discipline practices and
suspended and expelled from
school.
Many schools and school dis-
tricts have finally begun reforming
their policies to promote positive
academic and behavioral out-
comes for all students and elimi-
nate harsh and exclusionary disci-
pline practices that push students
out of school. During the Obama
Administration the Departments
of Education and Justice support-
ed these positive reforms. Their
2014 guidance was a key step re-
minding schools of their legal ob-
by
ligations, followed by resources to
help schools make sure they were
providing equal opportunity for
all students. The Trump Adminis-
tration is now actively undercut-
ting and eliminating this guidance.
In December, just as most teach-
ers and students were getting ready
to leave for winter break, the De-
partments of Education and Justice
announced they were rescinding
the 2014 guidance reinforcing pro-
The letter says the 2014 guid-
ance “clarifies that [the Depart-
ments of Education and Justice]
expect schools and districts to treat
all children fairly and provides
practical tools and guidelines for
educators to create safe, healthy,
and inclusive environments for all
students … Rescinding the guid-
ance sends the opposite message:
that the departments do not care
that schools are discriminating
Every day in America
2,363 children are
arrested. That’s one
child every 37 seconds.
tections for students of color and
students with disabilities from dis-
crimination in school discipline.
The Children’s Defense Fund
joined the Leadership Conference
on Civil and Human Rights and
119 other organizations last month
in signing a letter to the Depart-
ments of Education and Justice
urging them to immediately re-
commit “to vigorous enforcement
of our civil rights laws and to a
meaningful response to racial dis-
crimination in school discipline.”
against children of color by dis-
proportionately excluding them
from school and that the depart-
ments will not fulfill their role
in helping educators create and
maintain safe schools that afford
all students equal educational op-
portunities.” The letter also notes
that rescinding the guidance is
another in a long line of adminis-
tration actions that “make schools
less safe for LGBTQ students,
sexual assault survivors, immi-
grant students, students of color,
students with disabilities, and any
child who experiences systemic
discrimination.”
Every day in America 2,363
children are arrested. That’s one
child every 37 seconds. Thou-
sands of children of color and with
disabilities are getting trapped in
the cradle to prison pipeline be-
cause of discriminatory school
discipline policies that often push
children into the juvenile justice
system. We must continue to en-
force the laws preventing discrim-
ination, which remain intact, and
the good practices referenced in
the 2014 guidance and reject ev-
ery effort to drag our nation’s laws
and children backwards.
As we enter Black History
Month soon after celebrating what
would have been Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.’s 90th birthday, his words
inspire us to go forward and resist
this administration’s attempts to
push our children backwards. I of-
ten quote his clear words the first
time I heard him speak in person
during my senior year of college
in Spelman College’s chapel: “If
you cannot fly, drive; if you cannot
drive, run; if you cannot run, walk;
if you cannot walk, crawl. But keep
moving. Keep moving forward.”
We must not miss a step in our
march toward justice.
Marian Wright Edelman is
founder and president emerita of
the Children’s Defense Fund.
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
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Heavily Soiled Area:
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(Requiring Pre-Spray)
Area/Oriental Rug Cleaning
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Throw Pillows (With
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